


So, This Is What Bad Decisions Lead To

by The_Impavid



Series: Shenanigans [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I cuss more than necessary, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Tony Stark, Supportive May Parker (Spider-Man), Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 11:46:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20153071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Impavid/pseuds/The_Impavid
Summary: Homecoming was a bitch, wasn't it? Anyways, turns out that whole shebang is the start of something great.





	So, This Is What Bad Decisions Lead To

So… homecoming was a thing. Just your everyday Peter Parker ditching his spectacular, totally-out-of-his-league senior date to take down a mechanical birdman. Peter made it out of the plane wreckage perfectly fine, at least in his own words, and spent the rest of the night going over that traumatic experience. Man, May never received such an enormous hug from her kid when he came back home from homecoming. And let’s just praise Ned for being the best person ever and collecting Peter's discarded tuxedo from the school. That'd be a bit weird to see: Spider-Man running through the hall to look for that damn tie.

Anyways, the Vulture incident left one (1) Tony Stark a bit frazzled at the fact a 12-year-old crashed his top-security plane and captured a federal criminal on his own. Without. His. Ass. Saving. Suit. A suit with every protocol in place that Tony spent countless hours unable to sleep, imagining new horrible scenarios where Peter could get hurt, to create. A suit that Tony took away after Peter's contribution to nearly sinking a ferry filled with civilians. That suit. Peter could have died at the hands of Adrian Toomes, Tony realises, and he comes up with a new plan to keep a closer eye on the rising vigilante. 

So, Tony offers the kid a chance at being a real Avenger, and the resources of being properly trained in a facility with 24/7 surveillance. Only the kid declines, ruining that plan too. It's actually a wise decision, unexpected, but wise, nonetheless. Tony has to admit that he is impressed by the choice, but also a bit sad since the kid wouldn’t be hanging around the Compound as much. It would have been good to have some company since Vision is always off searching for himself, Rhodey is dealing with government people, and Pepper is a CEO. It is a good thing as much as it is disappointing. Progress is key and all that stuff. Pretty sure he's heard that somewhere.

Now, Tony needs to set up another plan, because leaving a kid with zero self-preservation skills alone to fight crime? Yeah, that sounds like an absolutely horrible idea. The kid isn't telling his aunt, so Peter has nobody else to watch over him and guide him away from all the easily avoidable mistakes others have done. Others = Tony Stark if that's not obvious. So, yeah, Tony can't just brush Peter to the side again. Peter Parker is Spider-Man, fancy suit not needed.

Tony gives back the suit to the rightful owner and the only one it was designed for. Tony has a plan to regularly bring Peter in for "maintenance checks on the suit" and occasionally sound off mentor-y advice. Better than the whole grey zone bit. Maybe pray a bit that Peter can figure out Tony cares, doesn't want him dead, and that Tony is reliable enough to come to for big problems. Only that gets shot down AGAIN when he gets a call from Pissed Off May Parker©.

Turns out that young spiders are not great at keeping secrets. And here Tony thought that teenagers were supposed to be the master of deceit and live their lives going behind their parents’ backs. That’s what he did. 

Tony is already on the road from the Compound as soon as Happy gets a message to him saying that MAY NEEDED TO TALK. When Tony gets to the Parker’s’ quaint apartment, Peter is fretting in his room and May tersely answers the door. Not a word is said as they sit down in the living room, each waiting for the other to speak first. No walnut date loafs this time around.

Tony runs in his mind different ways to approach, but none of them seems appropriate at the time and he doesn’t want to make this whole thing worse. Like what do you say? ‘Hey sorry I took your kid to Germany to fight super soldiers and flying people without your knowledge.’ Tony wants to leave this apartment alive.

"What were you thinking?" He looks to May, on edge at the controlled voice. Honestly, Tony would probably better handle being yelled at in a fit of rage as opposed to this calm storm. She is a ticking bomb. "Peter is barely just 15. He has his whole life ahead of him. Why him?" She asks softly, her voice raw and breathless. She may look composed, but the emotion in her voice gives away what she feels. 

Tony takes a heavy moment, "I don't know. I don't know why it's him. I just know it was like he was born to help people. To be a hero." May shoots him a pointed look, but he continues on. He needs to explain it to her, and she NEEDS to understand. "I saw this rise of Queens' new vigilante and I couldn't just leave it as it is. He needs someone to help him." Even if it’s just me, he leaves off.

"He's just a boy." She pleads helplessly as if Tony personally had the ability to reverse the situation. Hell, if Tony could change Peter’s situation, he would in a heartbeat.  
"He's a boy with an incredible moral compass and super abilities." Tony straightens himself and clears his throat. "He was Spider-Man before I even met him, and he will be even after. I tried to stop him, but he kept going." She sighs heavily, quickly wiping tears from her eyes before they fall. She's always known the kind of person her kid is. Damn Ben for teaching Peter all of it.

"Look, I was not in my right mind when the Accords were coming into place. I didn't think my," he fumbles, "teammates would fight back as much. I thought they'd be able to see it from my side, but they couldn't, or wouldn't. Peter was only meant to tie them up from a distance so we could arrest them, I didn't know it was going to escalate. If I did, I would have never taken him to Germany in the first place." 

"You didn't tell me though," she points out. "Why?"

Tony looks at his hands, "I looked through Peter's records when I first figured out who Spider-Man was. You can imagine my surprise when this tiny 14-year-old kid was the new crime fighter.” Tony chuckles a bit at the memory and how he ran through the results over 5 times. “Then when I met him, I asked him why he chooses to put on that onesie every night." He looks her right in her eyes, openly showing his emotions for once. "He said that if you could do the things that he can, but you don't, then it happens because of you." Her eyes widen in recognition. Ben. "He didn't want to put you through any more."

Tony continues, "I've read the police reports of what happened that night, and I don't have to imagine what Peter went through. I know that this moral obligation he has, it makes him a better hero than most I have met. He has such a big heart and he is quite possibly the most altruistic person I met. I know he is going to change the world someday," he takes a breath, "and I want to make sure he lives to see it."

"Alright," she whispers. Already knew from the moment that she found out that she just couldn't get Peter to stop. That kid definitely got her stubbornness. Maybe Stark isn't everything that the media portrays him to be.

"Alright?" He is surprised by the outcome of events. He was sure he was going to be castrated when he came over.

"It's obvious that Peter won't stop being Spider-Man no matter what I say." She gets up and quickly walks over to Peter's door as Tony watches patiently. She knocks gently on his door and a slumping Peter opens the door, eyes red. He is about to speak but May holds up her hand to stop him and points him to the couch. He silently follows her, like a guilty puppy, and sits next to Tony.

"I'm still mad, Peter," the teenager sinks into the couch more, “but I'm not going to stop Spider-Man." He gasps breathlessly and snaps his head up so fast that Tony is surprised his head is still attached to his neck. "Only now I have some rules for you," Peter looks hopeful, and wow those are Bambi eyes if Tony has ever seen. But May only looks at Tony, "For both of you."

Tony clears his throat, "I think that's fair." He should have given Peter better rules when they started instead of that stupid grey area talk. 

The rest of the evening is spent negotiating over May's rules, both May & Tony actively ignoring Peter's assurances. At some point, pizza was ordered, and Tony tries to pay for it, but this is where he sees that the Parker's are not like the ex-Avengers. They don't see him just as a money bank or as another resource to use. No, May Parker makes him sit his ass back down as she pays for the pie. Maybe it wasn't much for her, but damn did it mean a lot to Tony to see them treated like any other person. Almost like family. 

Peter's Rules to Superhero:  
1\. Report any and all injuries to both May & Tony. NO EXCEPTIONS  
2\. School comes first! If his grades start dropping, then the Spider-Man is stopping. Nice rhyme  
3\. Curfew is at 11 P.M., 1 A.M. on Fridays & Saturdays, and only 3 days a week.  
4\. Peter is not allowed to ditch class anymore. The detentions are not worth it and it's bad for his record.  
5\. Homework must be done before going out for patrol.  
6\. Peter has to re-join the AcaDec team and not miss meetings without good reason.  
7\. Keep sending all reports to Happy and only important matters should be directly sent to Tony.  
8\. Mandatory suit maintenance checks are needed so that nothing fails in a horrible time.  
9\. May needs to give explicit permission for ANY higher-level assignments.

Peter is not thrilled with these rules, but he knows that arguing is not going to get him further. He accepts these terms and promises to try his best to follow them. May & Tony both know that Peter will probably not listen well anyways. Dear God, what is the future going to be?  



End file.
